Blood in the water
by Ponta-sensei
Summary: Family isn't always the picture perfect fantasy. To monk Tanuma, Family was a home with wooden walls, and the smiling face of the boy within them. To Kaname, family was a soft voice and a gentle hand to keep away the dark. They were all the family they needed, even if they didn't share blood.
IMPORTANT NOTES
\+ This is going to be told partially from Tanuma's father's point of view. Because of this, he will be called Tanuma (For lack of anything else to call him), and his son will be Kaname.  
\+ Highly Tanuma/Kaname-centric, in case you hadn't guessed.  
+Though I don't really intend this to be Tanatsu, I'll probably include fluffy stuff witht the two of them.

* * *

Tanuma didn't particularly mind how often he had to take away trips for work. Though it could be exhausting, he loved his job and had no strings tying him down to one place. If anything it was nice to travel, see the sights, even if it was for work. At the moment he was in a small, forgettable town surrounded by forrests and rice fields. It was nothing spectacular, but it was a nice change.

It was Tanuma's job to assist in the restoration of one of the town's temples and he had spent the better part of a week doing just that. The project was well on track and all he had left to do was set up for practices and he could finally be heading home. It wasn't that this town wasn't nice, it was just nice to sleep in his own bed every now and again.

It was late in the evening and Tanuma had taken to the habit of strolling through the woodland path near his residence before retiring to bed. The air was crisp with the harsh breeze of early autumn and he had dressed in the warmest clothes he had packed. It was looking like winter would be coming early, just as summer had that year. The plants seemed to feel the same as though it was only late september the leaves were already beginning to wither and die off. Once blossoming flowers were now blanketing the walking path and in the early days of their decay, filling the air with their lingering scent. Some lay on the surface of water puddles, refusing to sink. It seemed that when winter did come, they'd have a very snowy few months, as the moisture hung continuously in the atmosphere these days.

With a vague little smile, Tanuma noted that the frogs this town seemed to be so proud of appeared to be flourishing in the wheather. Small frogs, hardly more thn tadpoles and no bigger than his thumb nail, were to be found on the trunk of every tree and chirped continuously just out of sight. It was a good thing there were very few cats in the town, or the numbers would likely be far less.

The air felt different that night, Tanuma had mused to himself as he walked. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact he couldn't really name what was so different about it, but it had compelled him to walk significantly further than he had on other nights. Perhaps the cold bite in the air was helping to rinse away the days exhaustion, or maybe he was simply feeling more appreciative of nature than he usually was. In any case, it meant that he had walked for over half an hour when he decided to turn back, figuring the further he walked the further he would have to walk back.

Slightly reluctantly, having grown quite interested in the changing sceenery, Tanuma turned on his heel and began the slow treck back to his temporary home.

However, he had taken no more than two steps before something stopped him. He paused, trying to decipher exactly what it was that had stopped him when he heard it. Somewhere in the woods around him was movement. The movement of something no doubt sugnificantly bigger than a frog. Cautiously took a step towards the edge of the path. Had it been an animal? Most likely. He hoped it was nothing dangerous. When he saw nothing he turned to leave, but froze dead at the sound of a scream. A childs scream.

What it was that compelled him to act so impulsively, Tanuma would never know, but he liked to think it was his instinct as an adult to act when a child was in danger. Whatever it was made him dash towards the sound, straight into the dense forrest.

The incoherent scream continued to resonate over the chirping of frogs in the darkness. The moon was out in full, illuminating the surroundings enough that Tanuma wasn't just stumbling blindly through the woods, but leaving it dark enough that he had to strain his eyes past his glasses to try and spot the source of the cry.

It didn't take long before he caught sight of a shadowy figure crouched at the base of a tree. As Tanuma drew closer more details of the child became clear. Judging by their small form, they couldn't be any older than two or three years old and their thin arms were raised to block their ears and make fists of their dark hair. The child wore a torn and dirtied Yukata and the toes of his bare feet curled into the dirt beneath them. The child continued to scream, but Tanuma was relieved to find there didn't seem to be any immediate sign of danger.

"Are you okay?" He called to the child as he hurried forward to kneel in the dirt beside him.

The child only continued to scream the hoarse scream. Tanuma knew this cry was not just that of a child throwing a tantrum, but of genuine terror. He could see the small shoulders shake and eyes pressed tightly shut as if to shut out the rest of the world.

After not getting a reaction from the child, Tanuma reached out and placed a hand on their back.

The child went stiff and his cry choked in the back of their throat before their head snapped up.

Tanuma stared into the wide, reddened, terror filled dark eyes of the child who continued to breathe uneavenly.

"Are you okay? What are you doing here?" He tried again, voice soft and as soothing as he could manage.

"I-I-I-" The child stuttered, still staring as if seeing something extraordinary for the first time. Tears streaked his pail round cheeks and he hiccuped, unable to form words.

"This is very important, are you hurt?" Tanuma was honestly worried the child, who upon closer inspection appeared to be a little boy, had been bitten by something potentially venomous.

The boy, however, shook his head in a small, slow motion and continued to shake like a leaf.

Tanuma would have sighed in relief if it weren't for the still rather alarming situation. What was he supposed to do? He'd never been in a situation like this before. He supposed the logical idea would be to take the boy to the police station. They would probably have a process for this sort of thing. Unfortunately, due to the small size of the  
town, they didn't have a police station of their own. The best he could do was take him back to the motel and call the police.

"I want to help you, okay?" Tanuma began cautiously.

The boy looked hesitant and took a step back. Tanuma stiffened, afraid that the boy would try to run away.

"Don't be afraid, I just want to take you somewhere you'll be safe. Are your parents near here?"

"They," The boy struggled. "T-they... blood..." He trailed incoherently, babbling through flowing tears.

Tanuma felt his musces tighten. Blood? had his parents been...? Whatever the case, Tanuma got the feeling that it was best that they leave.

"Shh, it's okay. Let's go somewhere safe." He held out a hand to the child. The boy looked at the hand uncertainly, still fighting back sobs. However; after a long moment he grasped the larger hand with his own and allowed Tanuma to sweep him into his arms.

With that he began hurriedly walking back the way he came with the boy's face pressed into his shoulder, tears soaking through the fabric. The boy was shaking still, though whether it was from fear or the cold was unknown. It was far to cold out to be wearing nothing but a thin yukata. The boy's skin, however, felt oddly warm.

"Just keep him safe and calm until we get there and we'll take over from there."

"Thank you very much, officer." Tanuma all but sighed in relief as he hung up the phone.

He'd arrived back at the motel probably fifteen minutes ago, and there was finally someone on their way to take care of the situation. The boy was still exactly where he had set him down, sitting on the edge of the bed with his feet dangling limply inches above the floor. Tanuma turned back to him with a gentle smile, one the boy expectantly didn't return.

"There's a nice man on his way now to help you." He told the child, who showed no sign of response.

He walked over and knelt infront of the bed to look closely at the boy. His eyes were glassy and his face slightly flushed. Tanuma had figured by the boys body temperature as they walked back that he was running a fever, but he had no idea what to do about it. You couldn't give toddlers paracetamol or anything like that, could you? He wasn't going to risk trying it anyway. He had no idea how to take care of sick children.

"Do you want to lie down?" He asked, but again got no response. He lifted the child and moved him to lie against the pillows at the other end of the bed.

What now? What did people do for fevers? wet cloths? He saw a tea towl by the sink, that would work, right? On that train of thought he stood and strode over to the kitchenette ran the tea towl under the faucet and wrung it out until it was only slightly damp before returning to sit beside the boy on the bed. When he touched the cool material to his heated forhead, the child flinched as if afraid and let out a small whimper.

"Shh, it's alright. You're alright, this is going to help you feel better." He spoke soothingly, the way he often heard mothers comfort their children.

"Mmn."The boy mumbled. It was hardly audible, but Tanuma was just glad to know that the boy could actually hear him.

The boy. He realised that's all his mind knew to call him. It felt almost rude. As he dapped the cloth against heated skin, he asked.

"What's your name?"

"Name..?" THe boy blinked slowly. "I don't..."

'I don't'. Don't what? 'I don't know?' 'I don't have one?' 'I don't want to tell you'?.

"You know, what people call you." Tanuma urged. "Do you know what people usually call you?"

The boy gave a slow nod and Tanuma smiled. "Good, what do people call you?"

"A-A" The child tried, sticking his tongue out as he struggled with his pronounciation. "Akaname."

Tanuma blinked. Akaname? He'd never heard of anyone named that before. Surely no one would name their child after filth lickers. Surely, he had to have heard wrong. The child was young and probably had trouble pronouncing his name. Plenty of children did. He found that much more likely than someone naming their child so cruelly.

"Do you mean Kaname?" Tanuma asked, trying to figure out what the boy possibly could have meant.

After a moment of nothing the boy nodded again. So Kaname was his name. Good to know. He placed the cloth flat against Kaname's forhead.

"And how old are you, Kaname-kun?" The answer wasn't really important, but he was curious. His main purpose in asking was to keep the boysmind on things other than what had scared him so terribly in the woods.

Kaname however, didn't seem to understand. He gave a puzzled look and shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

"Its okay if you cant remember." Was it? Well, he was young, lots of young kids probably didn't remember things like this.

"Wha-whas your name?" Kaname asked, his struggle to pronounce his words incredibly adorable.

"Mine? Well people call me Tanuma."

"Tanma." Kaname tried before scrunching up his little nose in dissatisfaction. "Ta-nu-ma."

"Very good!" Tanuma praised.

"Ta-nu-ma-san 's hard to say." The boy uttered sheepishly.

"It is, so why don't you leave out the 'san'. It'll be easier that way." He offered as he turned the cloth onto its cooler side.

Wordlessly, Kaname shifted closer to Tanuma's side, refusing to make eye contact as he did. Tanuma allowed this with a smile, and gently stroked his hair until his eyelids began to droop. The boy was almost asleep when, much to Tanuma's chargin, there came a loud knock on the door. The sound caused Kaname to yelp awake in a startle and cling to Tanuma's side fearfully. Tanuma groaned.

Just when Kaname was begining to calm down.

He hushed him, and managed to convince him everything was okay and that he could let go before walking over to the door. Outside his motel room was an aged police officer, scowl set seemingly permenantly to his features.

"You Tanuma-san?" He asked in a naturally loud voice that almost made him wince.

"Yes, that's me-"

"And is the kid in there?"

"Yes, but please." He stressed. "He's very skitish. Try be gentle with him, he's already scared enough."

"I'm always gentle, Sir."

Reluctantly, Tanuma stepped aside and allowed the man to enter. When he looked back to the bed, Kaname had pressed himself into the far corner of the bed, against the wall, with his knees drawn to his chest. The officer sauntered over to the bed and looked at the small form critically.

"Hey there, kid." The officer bellowed. "Why don't you come over here? I'll take you back to the station and get you sorted out."

Kaname's shoulders shook and he put his hands over his ears, shaking his head. Tanuma didn't miss the look of irritation that crossed the officers face at this.

"Come on, kid, it's late and we all want to get this over and done with. I had to pull extra time for this, and Tanuma-san here wants you out of his hair so he can get on with his night. There's no need to cause extra trouble here."

"Hey, now, I never said anything like that!" Tanuma objected, disliking the way this man was handling the situation.

Kaname took a few hiccuping breaths and Tanuma could see the tears building in his eyes. Geez, he really hoped he didn't start sobbing again.

"Kaname-kun, it's alright." Tanuma stated, moving closer to the bed. "No one is upset with you, we don't want to hurt you. Why don't you come over here so we can help?"

Kaname stared at him for a few seconds before lowering his arms and crawling across the length of the bed to cling to Tanuma's leg. Tanuma frowned. The poor kid looked so scared.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you? I'll get my own transport back but I want to make sure he's comfortable."

The officer sighed loudly and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I 'spose I should take you in for questioning anyway, and it means I don't have to coddle him the whole way back to the station. We can provide accomodation for the night if we run late. Later than it already has, that is."

Tanuma smiled and nodded his thanks to the man before looking back down at Kaname. "Did you hear that, Kaname-kun? I'm going to come with you, so no need to get so nervous."

"Reawy?" Kaname mumbled, face still pressed into Tanuma's leg.

Again Tanuma chuckled at the childish mispronunciation. "I wouldn't lie to you, Kaname-kun." He promised emphatically. He leaned down slightly and gathered the child up into his arms so that he could rest his head against his shoulder once again.

"He sure is taken with you, Tanuma-san." The officer mused aloud.

"He's just a scared little boy, officer, I think he'd be taken with anyone if they offered him comfort." He shrugged with one shoulder so not to disturb the boy leaning on the other.

"Have you got any of your own?" The officer asked as Tanuma went about gathering his things before they left.

"No, no." Tanuma shook his head. "I decided long ago I wouldn't have children. I took a vow of celibacy when I decided to become a priest."

"I don't blame ya, kids can be a hand full. But, ya'know, you love them anyway."

"Children are precious things. Though I have none of my own, I see many parents and children on temple visits and they really are something special."

And with that, they left the small motel room and headed to the parking lot where the police car was parked. A stark contrast to the other, run down aging vehircles parked arould the lot. Surprisingly, Tanuma found a child's car seat already set up in the back seat of the cruiser. As the officer explained they had them at the station for the rare occassions they had to handle young kids, mostly in domestic desputes, and told the other man to strap the boy in.

Just getting Kaname to release his grip on Tanuma's clothes was struggle enough, but as soon as he touched the car seat he began to wriggle and squirm like it was pure instinct to avoid seatbelts at all cost.

"No!" Kaname shouted adimantly. "No!"

"Please, Kaname, just hold still." Tanuma practically begged as the officer chuckled amusedly in the front seat.

"Noooo!" Kaname kicked away Tanuma's hands as he tried to strap him in.

"Why not?"

"I want sit with Ta-nu-ma."

"Well you can't sit with Ta-nu-ma. It's against the law." The officer mocked unhelpfully.

"I'll sit right next to you, I'll even hold your hand if you want."

"...Pwomise?"

"Yes, I promise." Tanuma smiled.

Pouting, Kaname went limp in the seat and let Tanuma buckle the seatbelt and slip in beside him. As they pulled out of the car park and Tanuma was finally able to relax into his seat he heard a small, disgruntled sound from the car seat beside him and found Kaname holding out a tiny hand towards him.

"What?" Tanuma asked with a jovial smile, playfully feigning ignorance.

Kaname's brows furrowed uncomprehendingly. "Hand." He stated, waving his thin arm and sounding much more shy than he had when Tanuma had been strapping him in. "Hold hands. You pwa-" He frowned and stuck his tongue out as he struggled with the word he wanted. "pomised." he settled on finally.

"I did, didn't I?" Tanuma acknowledged, taking the boys hand in his own, the tiny fingers circling around his.

* * *

Questioning was surprisingly extensive and that as well as the effort of convincing Kaname that he would be alright going with the nice social worker was enough to leave him exhausted. Luckily the small police station had on sight acomodation that he had been allowed to borrow for the night. As soon as he had slipped into bed his eyes had fallen and he had decended into the deepest sleep he had had in weeks. It was lucky he wasn't expected to be back at the temple until fairly late the next day.

Unsurprisingly he dreamed of the boy he had found in the woods that night. Tanuma was an empathetic man by nature, so the childs obvious suffering had resonated with him, Children were meand to be happy, not scared, and alone, and screaming bloody murder in the woods at night. Despite the awful circumstances, Tanuma's dreams hadn't actually been bad ones. In fact, they were nice.

He dreamt of a small town in the summer time, of flowers and greenery, and a house with wooden walls and the smie of a boy within them. Kaname's smile. Something Tanuma had yet to see. He didn't think much of the dream. It had simply awakened some of his more paternal instincts to be made responcible for a child for the small amount of time. Though, it did make him realise just how badly he wished to see a smile on the childs face. Every child deserved to have things to smile about.  
-


End file.
